1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photographic apparatus and, in particular, to a mechanism for minimizing electrostatic firing of a lamp in a flash array adapted for use with photographic apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the photographic arts to provide for the ignition of a flashlamp by means of an electric pulse generated by a piezoelectric crystal and to provide for the synchronization of such flash ignition with shutter operation of a camera. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,856,564; 2,972,937 and 3,106,080. More recently, apparatus has been developed in which a plurality of flashlamps, fireable by electric energy generated by a piezoelectric crystal, are assembled into a multilamp array. In one such array, as is disclosed more fully in the referenced, co-pending Application Ser. No. 528,529, entitled CAMERA FLASH SOCKET, all of the lamps are aligned in the same direction and each lamp has its own reflector, with a switching mechanism internal to the array for firing a particular lamp.
A lamp designed to be fired by electrical energy generated by a piezoelectric crystal is susceptible to premature firing by electrostatic discharge. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a mechanism for minimizing the possibility of electrostatic firing of such a lamp in a flash array.